The American Museum of Natural History 

 Its Work, Membership, and Publications 



The American Museum of Natural History was founded and incorporated in 

 ] 8G9 for the purpose of establishing a Museum and Library of Natural History ; 

 of encouraging and developing the study of Natural Science; of advancing the 

 general knowledge of kindred subjects, and to that end, of furnishing popular 

 instruction. 



The Museum building is erected and largely maintained by New York City, 

 funds derived from issues of corporate stock providing for the construction of sec- 

 tions from time to time and also for cases, while an annual appropriation is made 

 for heating, ligliting. tlie repair of the building and its general care and super- 

 vision. 



The Museum is open free to the public every day in the year; on week days 

 from 9 A.M. to 5 p.m., on Sundays from 1 to 5 p.jni. 



The Museum not only maintains exhibits in anthropology and natural history, 

 including the famous habitat groups, designed especially to interest and instruct 

 the public, but its library of 70,000 volumes on natural history, ethnology and 

 travel may be, and is, used as a reference library. 



The educational work of the Museum is also carried on by numerous lectures 

 to children, special series of lectures to the blind, provided for by the Thorne 

 Memorial Fund, and the issue to public schools of collections and lantern slides 

 illustrating various branches of nature study. The following are the statistics for 

 the year : 



Visitors at the Museum 847,675 



Lectures to School Children 81,798 



Lectures to Members 5,089 



Lectures to Children of Members 9,465 



Lantern Slides Sent out for Use in Schools 38,913 



There are in addition special series of evening lectures for ]\fembers in the fall 

 and spring of each year, and on Saturday mornings lectures for the children of 

 Members. Among those who have appeared in these lecture courses are Admiral 

 Peary, Dean Worcester, Sir John Murray, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, the Prince of 

 Monaco, and Theodore TJoosevelt. 



Membership 



For the purchase or collection of s})eeim('ns and their preparation, for research, 

 publication and additions to the library, the Museum is dependent on its endow- 

 ment fund and its friends. The latter contribute either by direct subscriptions 

 or through the fund derived from the dues of Members, and this Membership 

 Fund is of particular importance from the fact that it may be devoted to such 

 purposes as the Trustees may deem most important, including the publication of 



